Isaac Makwala (born 24 September 1985) is a Botswana sprinter who specializes in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

Career

He was the gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. He has also won continental titles at the distance, winning at the

2015 African Games The 11th African Games took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted the first edition in 1965. Host aw ...

and twice at the African Championships in Athletics (2012, 2014). He has represented his country Botswana at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, three times at the Commonwealth Games, and five times at the World Championships in Athletics (2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017). With the Botswana

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

team he has won the bronze medal at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, a silver medal at the

2017 IAAF World Relays The 2017 IAAF World Relays is the third edition of the biennial, global track and field relay competition between nations. It was held April 22–23, 2017, in Nassau, Bahamas. The distance medley relay The distance medley relay (DMR) is an athlet ...

and medals at the African Games and Championships. His personal best time of 43.72, set 5 July 2015 in La Chaux-de-Fonds was an African continental record and ranks him number 8 on the all-time list, the second fastest non-American. He is also a sub-20

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

runner. On July 14, 2017, Isaac Makwala became the first man in history to run a 200 m within 20 seconds and a 400 m within 44 seconds on the same day by running 43.92 in the 400, then 19.77 (+0.0) in the 200, 2 hours and 20 minutes later at the Meeting de Atletismo Madrid. He qualified for 400m final at the 2017 World Championships, before being withdrawn from the race, due to illness. He then qualified for the 200 m final, placing overall sixth. He competed in the 400m at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, finishing 7th in the final.

Major competitions record

¹Did not start in the final

Personal bests

- 19.77 secs, Madrid, Spain, 14 July 2017 *

- 43.72 secs ( #2 African all time), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, 5 July 2015

References

External links